opera Mireille, which was performed for the first time in 1864, in
Paris.

The poet did not remain long in the capital. He doubtless realized that
he was not destined to join the galaxy of Parisian writers, and it is
certain that if he had remained there his life and his influence would
have been utterly different. He returned home and immediately set to
work upon a second epic; in another seven years he completed _Calendau_,
published in Avignon in 1866. The success of this poem was decidedly
less than that of _Mirèio_.

During these years he published many of the shorter poems that appeared
in one volume in 1875, under the title of _Lis Isclo d'Or_ (The Golden
Islands). Meanwhile the idea of the Félibrige made great progress. The
language of the Félibres had now a fixed orthography and definite
grammatical form. The appearance of a master-work had given a wonderful
impulse. The exuberance of the southern temperament responded quickly to
the call for a manifestation of patriotic enthusiasm. The Catalan poets
joined their brothers beyond the Pyrenees. The Floral games were
founded. The Félibrige passed westward beyond the Rhone and found
adherents in all south France. The centenary of Petrarch celebrated at
Avignon in 1874 tended to emphasize the importance and the glory of the
new literature.

The definite organization of the Félibrige into a great society with its
hierarchy of officers took place in 1876, with Mistral as _Capoulié_
(Chief or President). In this same year also the poet married Mdlle.
Marie Rivière of Dijon, and this lady, who was named first Queen of the
Félibrige by Albert de Quintana of Catalonia, the poet-laureate of the
year 1878 at the great Floral Games held in Montpellier, has become at